The Festival is presented by the History Trust of South Australia, began its life as South Australia’s History Week back in 2004, and changed to a month-long event in 2011. This proved to be a good move, as it has grown in popularity every year since. And with over 660 events from 370 organisers and an overall attendance of 139,000 people in 2018 (you can read the report here) the interest from both organisers and attendees continues to grow.

2019 will be the 16th History Festival, and as always, it will include a vast and expansive variety of activities, tours and engaging opportunities for South Australians to immerse themselves in the history of this great state. The 2018 History Festival brought us the history of football in South Australia, countless tours of historical buildings, sites and landmarks, a cycling tour along the Torrens and many other priceless experiences over 34 days. From songs to slide-shows, bus tours to bushwalks and in venues ranging from galleries to graveyards, the events are always fascinating.

The South Australian History Festival normally runs for the whole of May, but as it begins with the Open Doors weekend which is on 27-28 April, the History Festival begins a little earlier than normal, which is great for everyone, as that means more history to see and learn about!!

The Open Doors weekend celebrates South Australia’s stunning architectural history with heritage building owners given the opportunity to open their doors and share their stories with tours, talks, children’s activities, performances or displays.

Of the History Festival itself Greg Mackie, Chief Executive of History Trust of South Australia says …

The History Festival program provides an opportunity for many hundreds of individuals, organisations and thousands of volunteers to share their passion for history, for collecting and for our unique heritage.

The History Festival team has also organised a series of community workshops around SA for event organisers to learn more about being part of the action in 2019. Details can be found on the website: historyfestival.sa.gov.au

Online registrations to participate in the 2019 Festival are open to individuals and organisations wishing to promote South Australia’s wonderful stories, places and collections. From heritage organisations, museums, archives, community and cultural organisations to universities, libraries and schools as well as churches, galleries, businesses, cemeteries, gardens, government agencies and owners of heritage-listed places, if your community has a story to tell, this is the perfect opportunity to share it.

All events are listed on the History Festival website and in the printed program which will be distributed state-wide through The Advertiser in April.

Earlybird registrations close Thursday 24 January 2019, with regular registrations closing on Thursday 7 February 2019, so register now at historyfestival.sa.gov.auto list your event in the 2019 History Festival program.

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